Another Fausti man close to taking me down with that Fausti bright white, perfect smile.
We turned at the sound of a baby crying. Mia was walking Graziana in a fancy-looking stroller, and the two boys were being taken care of by Scarlett and Brando. Scarlett waved at me, and I waved back. When I turned back, Rocco was watching them, and with a look in his eyes that made my heart break for him. It wasn’t just the scene, but more. Like…he was watching Scarlett with more than want for what his brother’s family had. It almost seemed like he wantedher.
Brando hadn’t seemed to miss the look. His eyes were hard on his brother as his brother watched his wife.
What had Ava told me once? “Watch,” she had said. “Watch the looks people in this family give each other. They might not always speak what they’re feeling, but intentions are in the eyes.”
That made me stand closer to Rocco, because even I could feel he wanted a true love like Brando and Scarlett had, and somehow, fate got it twisted and paired him up with Rosaria. I mean, okay, she was beautiful and talented, seemed smart too, and was driven, that was for sure, but for someone who was an opera singer, she seemed to lack the passion Rocco needed. It was like her ambitions had driven out the romance in her veins.
“Here,” I whispered, handing Rocco another cookie. “You seem like you need this.”
He took it, laughing.
“What’s so funny, honey?” Mia asked as they got closer. “Oh, don’t mind if I do!” She snatched a cookie out of her uncle’s tin. “These are so good, Stella!”
Rocco handed Brando the tin and went straight to the stroller for Graziana. She had changed so much in just…what was it? Not even two months? We all cooed at her for a bit and gave the boys some attention before we all followed Rocco inside. Mom and Niccolo were talking in the kitchen. He had a cup of coffee and a cookie. Niccolo wasn’t doing much talking though. He wasstarting at my mom with a hungry look in his eyes. Mom was being her usual charming self, going on about different things.
“Seems like your mom has put a spell on Niccolo,” Scarlett whispered, nudging me.
“She knows a thing or two about voodoo.” I wasn’t sure what was happening, but…it was interesting to watch.
We all took seats around Rocco’s table and snacked on the cookies, chatting about so many different things, it was hard to keep up. Sometimes two people would start a conversation between them and then the whole table would get in on it. But then Scarlett froze, and her eyes seemed to dim before the thoughts she was having disappeared completely and left her looking vacant.
“Baby,” Brando said to her, and the entire table went still.
She held up a hand a second later, but she looked pale.
I stood from the table and grabbed her a glass of water. As I set it in front of her, she squeezed my hand, thanking me. A knock came at the door, and the guards must have opened it. Matteo came in, followed by Saverio and Armando.
The men at the table stood, meeting my husband and his two men face to face.
“Nonno sent us,” Matteo said, looking in his uncle’s eyes, as serious as he ever was when he was about to deliver bad news. “Massimo has been arrested in Natchitoches. Chloe decided to marry someone from our town in a secret ceremony. Massimo allowed it to happen, then he killed her husband and left her his heart before the wedding night.”
A pin drop could be heard in the room.
Rocco fixed his suit, but that was all he did.
Scarlett stepped up next to him, keeping Brando’s hand in hers. “Rocco,” she whispered.
Rocco gave a curt nod and then left.
Most of the men followed.
Chapter 47
Stella
Two months until the wedding, and our entire world had turned so tense, I wondered if it was a good idea to just cancel. We were married, and that was all that counted to me. I really wanted mom to be at one, though, so I broached the subject of just repeating our Tuscan wedding in December.
Matteo shook his head. “Massimo made his choice. EvenPadrinounderstands why Massimo has made the choices he has.”
I took a deep breath. “Do you understand?” I asked.
It was horrible what had happened to that guy Chloe had decided to marry on a whim. Scarlett had said she probably wasn’t thinking clearly, and to escape Massimo, she was going to marry that guy and leave town. I wasn’t sure why she thought marriage was the answer—no one else did either—but she chose that path.
The guy Chloe married was someone she’d dated briefly before she left for Paris to pursue her art degree. He was related to the late sheriff of the town, which made things worse. Apparently, there was some real bad blood between the Fausti family and the Stone family, which Mia filled me in on. She even told me that Juliette, Romeo’s wife, had been engaged to a Stonebefore she met Romeo. Mia told me that the sheriff (who had, she added, lost a lot to the Faustis) had died last year.
The girl who ran up to Matteo right before I had that breakdown was the sheriff’s daughter. His widow, Jane (or did Mia call her Janet? Come to think of it, I think she called her both) married the sheriff’s younger brother a few months later. Mia said the brother was worse than the sheriff, as far as his hate for the Fausti family, but at least he wasn’t in law enforcement. But he was in politics.
